Home » Jazz Articles » Live Review » Herbie Hancock Imagine Project: Philadelphia, August 13, 2010

212

Herbie Hancock Imagine Project: Philadelphia, August 13, 2010

Herbie Hancock / The Imagine Project
The Man Center
Philadelphia, USA
August 13, 2010

On a cool August night at the open air Mann Center, pianist Herbie Hancock reminisced about his '60s gigs in Philly with Miles Davis back in the day, but he was not looking to rest on any laurel. For two-and-a-half hours, Hanckock showed that he was very much in his prime.

Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta introduced the throbbing, concussive "Chameleon," as the the band filed in: guitarist Lionel Loueke (from Benin, a tiny country of West Africa), keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, and surprise guest, bassist Marcus Miller. Hancock finally bounded onstage looking 45 instead of 70, instantly connecting to the audience and drinking in the lusty shouts and applause.

The concert was built around material from his 46th studio album, The Imagine Project (Herbie Hancock Music, 2010), a global collective with a mission and message of multicultural understanding and exchange. Hancock recorded the tracks in several languages, with headliners from pop and rock including Seal, Dave Matthews, Pink and The Roots, to mention a few—and, perhaps more impressively, with non-mainstream musicians from all over the world.

In concert, Hancock's message of global harmony was laced around a tour de force of his trans-era jazz-funk palette, from his Headhunters days forward. Even though he handed off equal time to all of the other musicians and singers, it was Hancock—both showy and intimateas vibrant as ever and more commanding than many of his studio sessions.

Hancock introduced lead singer Christina Train on John Lennon's iconic "Imagine." The pianist's moody intro opened up a serene musical field, but Train sang it like a pop anthem, then it breaking into an Afro-rhythmic groove. Train proved more versatile and subtle on other number, particularly effective on Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up," where she was joined by Phillinganes with great vocal chemistry.

Everybody sang on a stirring, too-brief rendition of Bob Marley's "Exodus." Hancock evoked more social consciousness in music of the '60s with his medley of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a Changing'" and Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," with Phillinganes' soaring vocals over the band's erratic tempo shifts.

Hancock returned to his older fusion material on electric piano, synthesizer and keytar with obvious joy, but demonstrated wise restraint, as it was the pianist unplugged that proved the most thrilling. After a group medley, Hancock dropped into an expressive and crystallized solo improv. He toured delicate Debussy-ean enclaves, commanded dense keyboard runs, and floated into a stratus with the exploratory courage of Thelonious Monk. It was no surprise that band members returned to interlock deftly on Monk's "'Round Midnight."

Hancock was coaxed back for an encore, and what better than his novelty '80s electro-funk hit "Rockit," which got everybody out of their seats.

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Herbie Hancock Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Jazz article: Bark Culture At Solar Myth
Jazz article: Hingetown Jazz Festival 2025
Jazz article: Hayley Kavanagh Quartet At Scott's Jazz Club

Popular

Read Take Five with Pianist Irving Flores
Read Jazz em Agosto 2025
Read Bob Schlesinger at Dazzle
Read SFJAZZ Spring Concerts
Read Sunday Best: A Netflix Documentary
Read Vivian Buczek at Ladies' Jazz Festival

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.